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That Sir, in the Hindu religious scriptures, marriage is termed as "Yagna" and those who did not pursue this "Yagna" were described as "Yagnaheena" and were looked down upon. But in Jaina tradition, a marriage is said to be completely performed when it was held according to the Jaina rituals. A marriage in Jain community is held under the presence and witness of 'Deva, Shastra and Guru", and also in the presence of elderly people known as 'Panchas' and it is said to be formally completed only after taking seven-fold rounds ("Saptapadi") of a pot containing 'Fire'. Only then, a marriage is said to be actually performed according to Jain rituals.
That Sir, according to Jaina tradition, a marriage is a religious act which includes in itself the sixteen moral acts (Samskar). The reason behind taking seven-folds rounds of a pot containing 'Fire' is that the children born out of the wedlock may achieve the seven most important posts like 'Sajjati' "Sad Grahasthata", Muni Diksha, Indra Pad, Chakravarty Pad, Tirthankar Pad, Nirwan etc. For achieving these most holy posts, the seven fold rounds are taken which is called 'Saptapadi'.
That Sir, as already said, in the Jaina tradition, marriage is said to be a religious act and as such a marriage is said to be performed according to Jaina rituals if only it is held under the presence and/or witness of Deva who is represented by either an idol or a 'Yantra' and only after performing "Hawan". The most learned Jaina Acharya Pujyapada of 5th Century A.D. has said that a marriage is said to be performed only when it is performed in the presence of 'Deva', 'Dwija' (Pancha), 'Fire' (Devadwi jagni Sakshipurvak Kanyadan Vivaha).
From the above points, it is crystal clear that the marriage system of the Jain community is totally different from that of the Hindus. We, therefore, implore upon the Central Govt. to enact a separate Jain Marriage Act so that the people belonging to the Jain community may perform their marriage according to the Jain tradition and rituals and for this act of kindness, we shall remain ever grateful to you.
Thanking you,
Yours Sincerely,
Nirmal Kumar Jain Sethi,
National President
Bharatvarsheeya Digambar Jain Mahasabha, New Delhi
(The letter was written sometime in May, 2007)
150 Jains in India and Abroad
